Fearlessly Frozen: Chapter two
by HannahJaneLee10
Summary: Jack's peaceful visit is cut short when he finds something that shocks him, filling his mind with dread and many unanswered questions.


~The Girl with the Blue Scarf~

Jack Frost awoke to the sounds of winter birds serenading the new born sun. It was a wonderful way to wake up from a night of sweet, undisturbed dreaming. No nightmares, no noises from traffic of the city; It was a dream come true.

As soon as he opened his eyes he was met with an extreme display of color spread all across the morning sky. It was visible between the gaps in the foliage of his sleeping tree, and it shone down on the snow giving it a pinkish hue. Jack stretched his long arms as he let out a yawn. He hadn't been this refreshed in a long time!

He climbed down from his tree and floated down to the ground, with the help of the wind. Then he walked to the edge of the lake, it tired him to fly everywhere.

And today was his lazy day.

Jack leaned on his staff and stared at the lake, and then the sky. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt a breeze. This place always brought him peace.

When he opened his eyes, he saw something he hadn't seen the night before. In the middle of the lake there was a large hole. As he squinted at the hole he realized it was surrounded by an ice-skater's tracks.

He had a moment of panic. Even years ago, before he know his story he always wanted people to stay away from the lake. When people came to swim or boat he would freeze it over. When people came to skate he would make the ice so thick, it would be able to support a truck. He never knew why he did this, but now he knew then and there. He had never wanted anyone to be in it because he didn't want anyone to suffer his fate as well! All of those actions made sense now.

Jack stood paralyzed for a moment, just staring at the icy gap in the ice. Then he dropped his cloak and flew over to the hole as fast as he could. He searched the hole feverishly with his eyes then spotted something.

A blue scarf was floating in the water.

He fished it out with his staff and looked around anxiously. Where there any tracks that showed that the person got out? Where they already dead, and under the ice? He was freaking out. If only he had been here sooner! This never would have happened!

He hung his head and cursed himself. There was no way the person was still alive if they didn't get out. Now, Jack had been alive awhile, and he was used to finding things like this. Many people died in the cold, or drowned in a lake in the winter. Every time he would come across one he would hold a small memorial out of respect for the lost person who would probably never be found.

He walked off of the lake and grabbed a large stick. He stuck it in the ground and then draped the scarf over it. It was a small memorial, but it would have to do. So he just sat there in front of the scarf , head hung in defeat. 'I'm a guardian,' he thought to himself, 'and I can't even save a person from sharing the same fate as me."  
A teardrop fell from his face to the snow, but instead of the water hitting the ground, halfway down it froze and became a snowflake, which fluttered away into the breeze.

He sighed, sniffling. He never really did cry at his memorials, but this was different. HE had also died in the lake ice-skating. He knew what it felt like to drown in that lake, and he had never wanted anyone else to feel the way he did that night. Who knows; maybe that person died saving another…

Jacks thoughts where suddenly interrupted by the snap of a twig from about 10 feet behind him. His senses heightened, waiting for any other noise closer by. It was probably just a rabbit or fox, but you could never be too sure.

Then suddenly a warm gust of air came by, messing up his hair and going down the back of his neck. But something was wrong. Then jack realized, that that gust of air wasn't a breeze. It was someone's hot breath on his neck.

Then Jack jumped as a voice whispered into his ear. "How pathetic," it said. Jack spun around and gripped his staff with his ice white hands. His eyes glowed blue. But there was no one behind him.

"Who's there?" He barked. But there was no answer. But he already knew who had spoken. He would have recognized that voice anywhere.  
It was Pitch, as in Pitch Black.

Jack shuddered. That voice brought back terrible memories. They had defeated him only over a year ago! How could he be back already?  
Then a spine chilling laugh broke through the silence. Jack was a little scared, but he was madder at the boogieman then he was scared of him.

"Come out here Pitch! And fight like a man!" Jack yelled. He really did doubt his chances in a one on one fight with him, but he didn't really know what to do. His best bet was if they got into a fight Jack could lure him to the pole or to another warren so that he would have backup.

But there was no response. Jack was slightly relived, but scared as well. He stood there not really knowing what to do, but to afraid to let his guard down.

Then out of the darkness shot inky black shadow, streaking straight to his leg. The shadow grabbed him, just below the end of his pant leg, and began to drag him towards the forest line, towards the other shadows.

Jack acted quickly, and in one smooth action he took his staff and plunged it into the shadow. The staff hit it directly in the middle, and in one blast of bright blue light, the shadow was shattered into a million pieces; sending Jack to the ground.

Jack sat there a moment in the eerie calm, just waiting for the next attack. That was far too easy! There was no way the battle was already done!

But then after about a minute of eerie silence and no more attacks, jack concluded it was over. He stood up and brushed himself off. That had been really easy! He must be getting more powerful, if he just got rid of the shadows in one blast. He was awesome!

…. But something still didn't feel right.

Jack spun around and saw a startling sight. The stick he had placed into the ground with the scarf draped over it was being surrounded by the shadows! That hadn't been an attack on him! Merely a decoy!

Next moment he took off, grabbing the scarf in his open hand midflight. He didn't know what Pitch had wanted with the scarf, but if he wanted it, Jack wouldn't let him have it. Jack soared away into the sky with the sounds of Pitches screams behind him, growing softer and more far away by the second.

He laughed to himself. He was far too clever! No shadow man could outsmart Jack Frost! He soared around a minute or two before he actually started to investigate the scarf. It seemed like an ordinary scarf, Jack thought. It was blue, and now that jack looked at it he noticed it was covered in lace on the underside.

'Well, its a girls scarf,' He observed. It was wet and cold, and it was kind of heavy. He had no idea what to do with it, so he concluded the safest place for it would be North's workshop.

He willed the winds to pick him up and carry him to the pole, and he was there within minutes.'So much for his stay at the lake' he thought.

The huge workshop came into view and jack landed right next to the huge wooden door that led to the heart of the huge fortress. The yetis let him in with no hesitation, eyes widened at the possibility that Jack had come for a visit. Jack walked past them all smiling, as if to say, 'Can't stop me now big guys!'

One large grey yeti scowled at him and pounded his fists. Jack just grinned and said,"Hey there Phil!" Then he cheekily flew into the workshop, leaving the dumbfounded yeti behind him.

It took a while to get to North's office, he had to dodge tons of random floating toys, try to out fly some of the yetis who still thought he wasn't allowed into the workshop, and of course the elves wouldn't leave him alone. They would jump in to him from above so they could hitch a free ride, or grab on to his staff. It usually took a while to shake their grips on his staff loose, or pry their teeth from his clothing. Now he remembered why he never visited North's workshop.

Finally he made it to North's door. He didn't think to knock; he just barged into the room. He had wasted enough time trying to reach him to tell him about pitch.

He swung the door open and heard a crash. 'Oh crap!' he thought to himself. Nest moment he was covered in broken pieces of ice. A particularly large one hit him on the head. He exclaimed and touched the spot where it had hit him. He could feel a bump forming already. "Ow, ouch ow ow ouch!" He mumbled.

Then he heard a loud yelp come from across the room followed by a thick Russian accent yelling, "Vy is et you yetis NEVER KNOCK!"  
Jack looked up to see a large man all dressed in red with a look of rage on his face. But then his look of anger changed to confusion as he saw that his intruder wasn't a yeti at all. Then his face broke out into a huge smile and he yelled, "Jack!"

Next thing Jack knew his was engulfed in a huge bear hug from the fat man, his ribs being crushed and the air being squeezed right out of him. He managed to force out one sentence,"North! I can't breathe!"

North released his grip on the poor boy laughing a loud boisterous voice and then slapped his back, knocking whatever air was left in him out. He yelled,"I knew you vould come back to ze pole Jack!"

The winter spirit leaned onto the wall, taking deep breaths and trying to regulate his breathing again while the large bearded man just laughed. Jack rarely visited the workshop, mainly because North always tried to get the boy to stay there with him. He had a room all for jack ready if he ever needed it, but Jack would always be a roamer. He had been alive for over 300 years, and he had never had a real room all to himself, and he liked it that way. He was used to it, but every time Jack would drop in to just say hi North would think he had come to take up his offer at living at the pole. No matter how many times Jack said no, North would always get his hopes up. And Jack knew he would never give up.

Jack smiled at the stubborn old man and said, "Hey North. I just wanted to drop in for a visit."

North's face went blank and he just stared at Jack for a minute. The boy just held his breath, waiting for his response. But North just shrugged and said, "Oh vell.."

Jack cringed at the man's crestfallen face and looked down at the remains of his ice toy. He said, "I'm sorry about the toy, North. I wasn't thinking."

The man looked down at the ice scattered about the floor and sighed. "It vas an airplane vith a bubble machine inside." A yeti had come in and was sweeping up the broken fragments. Jack felt awful.

Before the yeti left with the pieces jack stopped him. He grabbed the dustpan full of the pieces from the yeti's hands and had an idea. He envisioned the airplane in his mind and tapped his staff the ice pieces.

North was looking over Jacks shoulder, with wide watching eyes as the boy experimented with his powers.

Then suddenly the ice melted into water. Jack sighed with defeat, but the change just made him become more determined to fix it.  
He closed his eyes and imagined an airplane with a little device at the end that shoots out bubbles. Then he tapped his staff to the water once again.

Then he heard North let out a loud, "Ohhh!" Jack opened his eyes and instead of a dirty pile of water a beautiful ice airplane sat in the dustpan. Jack smiled and handed the plane to North, who was dumbstruck.

He held the small, delicate plane in his huge hands and just stared at it with wide eyes. Then he looked up at Jack confused and said, "Ow did you do that? It's a better design than et vas before!"

Jack just shrugged and walked over to North's big chair and sat down. He put his feet up on the desk, something North always reprimanded at him for. But the large man didn't seem to care at the moment. He was winding up the airplane, and then he threw it into the air.

Jack held his breath. He didn't know if it would fly, or even make bubbles. He was relieved when the plane soared over his head, making a slight humming noise as it doused him in icy bubbles. They didn't pop like normal ones; they floated down to the ground and clinked on the ground. They wouldn't ever pop, they could only melt or be cracked by some rather large feet, which they were. North was laughing hysterically and chasing the airplane like a little kid, breaking all the icy bubbles it made as it went. Jack just smiled at the man, he was old, but still such a child. Finally the airplane ran out of gas and landed softly on a near table.

North clapped his hands enthusiastically and smiled. But when he looked over at Jack he got a serious look on his face. He walked over to Jack (who was sitting in North's chair mind you) and gestured for him to move. Jack made a pouty face and the jolly man gave up and sighed in defeat. He was really soft with Jack. He pulled up a spared chair and said, "So Jack. Vat brings you to ze pole"

Jack reached under his cloak and took out the scarf. It was dryer now, but it was still wet. Then he said "I went up to the lake last night." Everyone knew about the lake Jack had drowned in. Baby tooth had told Tooth, and she spilled to everyone else. Jack didn't mind though, it saved him the trouble of telling them. Then he continued, "I was walking around and saw this in the water. I think some girl fell in"  
North took the wet scarf and studied it in his hands. "Zat is very unfortunate, Jack. But is zat the reason you came to ze Pole? Just because of zis dead girl?"

Jack shook his head. "That's not the weird part North..." Then he told him about how Pitch had attacked him so he could distract him from the scarf. Small nightmare sightings where normal, Kids always had nightmares. They could never get fully rid of Pitch, or the fearlings. They just had to fight them and try to keep them at bay so that they could never rise like they had around a year ago. But when Jack told him about how they were trying to get the scarf north's eyebrows raised in alarm.

He stood up and walked to the door. He said, "Follow me, Jack." Jack stood and they walked through the workshop together. North said," I have no idea vat Pitch could have wanted vith zis scarf, but if he wants it- ve must keep et avay from him."  
Jack nodded in approval; it was funny how they thought so alike.

They walked a few more minutes in silence, deeper and deeper into the vault. Jack had never been this far in, the wood walls disappeared and there was now ice walls, they where deep in the mountain. They reached a large vault and North made jack turn away while he did the combo to open it. Jack raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'really? You don't trust me?'

But North just looked confused and said, "Vat? Oh come on Jack! Just turn avround!"

Jack rolled his eyes and turned around as North punched in the code. He heard the large doors open and he turned around and he saw that inside the huge safe there where many strange old looking objects. They walked together and jack spotted a cool looking chest. He walked over and opened it up, completely clueless. He was expecting a cool sowrd or some books or something old, but he didn't see anything at all. Literally. When he opened the chest it exploded with light, making jack temporarily blind.

North ran over and closed it fast. Jack was blinking away the black spots and he heard North say, "Jack! No touching anyzing!"

Jack looked at the man, his vision still blurry and said," What was that?"

North just shrugged and said,"Oh just some fallen stars ve have found over ze centuries. Zey are very rare.

"Cool." Jack said. "What's this?" He said as he reached over to another chest.

Suddenly North appeared between him and his new target of interest. He glared down at the sprite, huge busy eyebrows in a V shape. "No. Touching. ANYZING" He put emphasis into each word and poked Jack with his pointer finger with every sillable.

Jack put his hands up in the air and backed up in defense, fake innocence in his eyes. "Me? I wasn't touching anything! What are you talking about?"

North just grumbled and walked away. Between grumbles Jack could hear the words 'annoying' and 'naughty list'.

At the back of the room there was, yet another vault. Much smaller but it looked really thick. North made Jack turn around (Much to Jacks displeasure) while he put in another code. The safe opened and North threw the scarf in before Jack could get a peek of what he was having so heavily guarded.

They walked out of the vault back into the bare ice hallway. The large door slowly closed behind Jack and North, sealing the scarf away into its depths. Although Jack knew it was the best place for it, he didn't want to let it go. It was strange, he felt as if he had taken it away from someone even though the owner had died. He felt... guilty. But why? The person was dead. Maybe it was because that person, that girl, had just died in his lake. That had to be it. But still, why was he so sad?

Jack sighed as the yetis locked the vault back up. North noticed the troubled look on the boys face, and had an idea. He turned to him and said, "Hey Jack"

"What North?"

"Do you vant to go for a ride in the sleigh?"

Jacks face lit up like a lightblulb and he forgot his troubled thoughts. He grinned and yelled, "Heck yes!" Then took off down the hall bellowing, "Ill drive!"

North just laughed and followed after the excited boy, who was now way ahead of him. But his shouts of joy where still heard from down the hall.

"Everyone loves the sleigh."


End file.
